“Lorelei!”

I looked across the street and saw Jack standing outside his limo. He held his finger up, signaling us to stay put as he crossed the street.

“Hi, Mr. Sutton.” Hope smiled.

“Hello, Hope. Lorelei. What are you two doing in Times Square?”

“We had dinner at Ellen’s.” I coughed. “What are you doing here?”

“I just had a meeting with someone about the magazine. Are you on your way home?”

“Yeah. We were just heading to the subway station.”

He sighed. “Come on. Tony will take you home.”

I put up my hand. “We can take the subway, Jack.”

“Lorelei. It’s cold out and you’re not taking the subway.” He bent down and spoke to Hope. “Would you rather ride the subway or in that black car across the street?” He pointed.

“Is that your car?” she asked.

“Yes. That is my car.”

“Your car is better than the subway.” She giggled.

He stood up and looked at me. “It’s settled. Tony will drive you home.”

I rolled my eyes and took hold of Hope’s hand as we crossed the street and climbed into the limo with Hope sitting in between me and Jack.

****

Jack

I looked down and noticed a pair of blue eyes staring up at me.

“What?”

“Did you have a good day?” she asked.

Lorelei glanced over at me.

“Yes. Did you?”

“Yes. I got an A on my math test. I was the only one in the class who got all the problems right.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. You remind me of Prince Charming from Cinderella.” She smiled.

Was this little girl for real? I couldn’t believe she just said that. I heard Tony snicker.

“I can assure you a Prince Charming I am not.”

“You can say that again,” Lorelei mumbled and I shot her a look.

“Why?” she asked.

“Why what?”

“Why aren’t you a Prince Charming?”

Lorelei began to cough uncontrollably. “You really should go see a doctor about that cough.”

“If it doesn’t clear up in a couple of days, I will,” she spoke.

Tony pulled up to Lorelei’s apartment building and I let out a sigh of relief. How was I supposed to answer Hope’s question? How would I explain to a seven-year-old that I was far from ever being a Prince Charming?

“Thank you for the ride.” Lorelei gave a small smile.

“Thank you, Mr. Sutton. It was fun talking to you.” Hope placed her small hand on mine and Lorelei looked at me with fear in her eyes.

“It was nice talking to you, Hope, and you’re welcome.”

I watched out the window as the two of them walked hand in hand up the steps of the apartment building.

“She’s an adorable little girl,” Tony said.

“She’s okay.”

Chapter Thirty

Jack

The next morning, I had a phone conversation with the private investigator regarding Bradley. He had a lead as of his whereabouts and he was going to call me back later. I looked at the clock. It was ten minutes after eight. I opened my office door and noticed Lorelei wasn’t at her desk. I walked down to Coco’s office and asked Franny if she’d heard from her.

“No, Mr. Sutton. She hasn’t called?”

“No. She hasn’t and this isn’t like her to be late.”

I walked to my office and pulled my phone from my pocket. I dialed the business phone I gave her. No answer. I called down to Garrett.

“What’s up, Jack?”

“Do you have Lorelei’s cell phone number? She hasn’t shown up for work and she hasn’t called. I tried calling the business phone I gave her and she didn’t answer.”

“That’s odd. Hold on; let me pull her file.”

A few moments later, he rattled off her number as I wrote it down on a piece of paper. I dialed it.

“Hello,” a soft voice answered.

“Lorelei?”

“No. This is Hope.”

“Hope. It’s Mr. Sutton. Where’s your mom?”

“She’s sleeping. When I went into her room, she was lying on the floor, so I helped her back to bed. She’s really sick, Mr. Sutton.”

Suddenly, a wave of fear overtook me.

“Hope, I’m on my way over. So when you hear a knock at the door, you ask who it is first. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mr. Sutton.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

I grabbed my suitcoat and flew out of the building. Tony was already waiting for me.

“We need to get to Lorelei’s apartment fast.”

“I’ll do my best, Jack, but it’s rush hour.”

“I don’t give a damn whether it’s rush hour or not, get to Lorelei’s as fast as you can.”

Despite the traffic, Tony got me to Lorelei’s in a decent amount of time. Shit. I forgot about the security door. I pushed the button to Lorelei’s apartment. The door buzzed and I pulled it open, flying up the steps to Lorelei’s apartment.

“Hope, it’s Mr. Sutton.” I knocked.

She unlocked the door and let me in.

“Can you show me where your mom’s bedroom is?”

I followed her down the hallway, and when I reached Lorelei’s room, I ran to her side and placed my hand on her forehead.

“Oh my God, you’re burning up.”

Lorelei slowly opened her eyes. “Jack?” she whispered.

“Shh. You’re going to be okay. I’m taking you the hospital. Hope, go get dressed. We’re going to take your mom to the hospital so the doctors can check her out.”

“Is she going to be okay?”

“Yes. She’s going to be fine. Go get dressed and hurry up.”

I placed my arms underneath her and picked her up from the bed. She laid her head against my chest.

“Hope, are you ready?”

“Yes.” She came running into the living room.

As I was on my way out the door, I noticed Lorelei’s keys sitting on the table. I grabbed them, and as soon as we stepped out of the apartment, I had Hope lock the door. By the time I got down to the limo, Tony was standing there with the passenger door opened.

“Hope, I need you to sit up front with Mr. Tony. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Tony helped me place Lorelei in the back seat and I climbed in next to her as she laid her head in my lap.

“I told you to go to the doctor. Now look at you.”

She moaned. “Hope.”

“She’s with us. She’s up front with Tony.” I stroked her hair.

Tony pulled up to the doors of the emergency room. I climbed out and went inside, telling them I needed help. Two nurses brought out a stretcher as I picked up Lorelei and laid her down.

“What’s going on with her?” one of the nurses asked.

“She’s been coughing really bad the past couple of days and not feeling well. She’s burning up.”

“Are you her husband?”

“No. I’m her boss. This is her daughter.”

They wheeled her inside and down the hall. One of the nurses told me and Hope to have a seat in the waiting room and that they’d be out shortly. Hope wrapped her small hand around mine and when I looked at her, all I could see were eyes filled with fear. I led her over to the chairs in the waiting room.

“She’s going to be just fine, Hope. I don’t want you to worry. The doctors will take good care of her and get her better.”

“I want my grandma and grandpa.”

“I can call them. Do you by chance have their number?”

“No, you can’t. They’re on a cruise.”

“Oh. Okay. Is there anyone else I can call?”

“My Auntie Stella is out of town visiting her boyfriend’s father who’s really sick.”

“Okay. What about your other grandparents?”

“I don’t have any other grandparents.”

I pulled my ringing phone from my pocket. It was Coco.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Jack, where the hell are you?”

“At the hospital. I had to bring Lorelei in. She’s very sick.”

“Oh no. What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll call you when I know more.”

“Okay.” Click.

I put my phone in my pocket and looked over at Hope.

“Are you hungry or thirsty?” I asked.

“Kind of. I didn’t eat breakfast.”

I looked around and saw a vending machine. “Let’s go see what they have in the machine.”

We stood in front of it and Hope looked through the glass.